-6 Below, -23 below wind chill ad 4000 sq foot restaurant and bar to clean

[Mark Saiger]

Will this cold ever end!!!

Got to go do carpet cleaning tonight with brutal cold temps again. 4000 sq ft of 2 Levels of restaurant and bar (plus steps). -6 below actual and -23 windchill. This is the place that had a water damage on Dec 30th that we did restoration work on and now the carpets are getting cleaned and I am gonna get paid!

3 different sets up for both vans and wind blowing.....

Ugh!

Make it stop!!!! I need some warm weather!

Ok....time to go put on my big boy pants and shoes and get out the door!

It better be warm in California when I get there......

Mark Saiger
Great White North carpet cleaner

 

[dealtimeman]

I think you just might need to move to another state. Ugh I don't know how you do it in that kind of cold.

 

[hogjowl]

What happened to that annoyingly perky guy in the videos about plowing snow?

 

[jcooper]

-8 tonight in Chicago!

Just get me to March all ready!

 

[Mark Saiger]

What happened to that annoyingly perky guy in the videos about plowing snow?

It had to been warmer then....or I was drinking....


Gonna go use my "Pork Hole" now....

 

[Mikey P]

70 here in my chicken coop

 

[GCCLee]

How do you keep the solution line from freezing Mark, Never let off?

Dang that's cold stuff.

 

[Desk Jockey]

You kidding, I've been wearing my knees out praying for more of this shhet.

Its been great for WDR work. : )

 

[Shane Deubell]

Yeah, we have a hwe job going on right now also. Its around 0 degrees.

Thank God i'm not the one doing it , paid my dues doing that stuff.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

16 degrees here. From the time I shut off the machine and started reeling up the fresh water hose it got so stiff it just broke in two as I attempted to wind it in.

I'll go doublecheck the heaters and covers in a bit, it will be near zero in a very few hours.

 

[hogjowl]

On man, I'm glad you mentioned covers! I put the heater in, but it's going down so low tonight that I need to cover my gauges too.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Even though the van is well insulated, ceilings and walls, I have more peace of mind with a biq quilt (thanks to my Mom in law) centered over the machine. Two little 1500w ceramic cubes on separate circuits at floor level, front and back of the machine. 2nd one on low as a failsafe.

We drain solution hoses and tools at the end of the day. However one of my 3/8" fresh water hoses broke in two tonight, even though it was drained (I repeat myself).

Watch the remote temp thru the night occasionally. Lasix makes that about 4 times.

 

[Able 1]

This winter is getting expensive!! Last month $465 this month $555, I think I'm going to contact Solyndra tomorrow.. Like Mark we run every day no matter of the temp..

 

[Mark Saiger]

How do you keep the solution line from freezing Mark, Never let off?

Dang that's cold stuff.

Actually we are pretty lucky. You can let it sit for a while without them freezing up. We had one line sitting about 5 minutes at least tonight (did get a bit nervous about that one though) and no freeze up. If we are worried we just put an open end connector on the hose (male or female) and put it in the vacuum line to keep water moving.

Took about 4 hours on site with the 2 vans and 3 of us to do the job. Big place and plenty of greasy soil.

Time for a shower, about 5 hours sleep and up and at em again early!

Good night all......

Mark

 

[Brian H]

Like Mark and Keith we work every day too!! It was -18 at my house at 5:30 this morning. By the time I got to work though, it was a balmy -5.

The solution lines aren't the thing that is a problem, the key to preventing them from freezing is to get the water running FAST!! Once it has warmed up, then you can relax a bit. The thing that will sometimes freeze up though is the vacuum line. That's the biggest problem we run into with the cold temperatures.

 

[GCCLee]

Thanks Mark and Brian!
Sum times us wee lil ones get a lil nervous : )

Especially when every time you knuckleheads post a problem, i end up with it happening to me!

 

[Steve Lawrence]

-11 in Ann Arbor this AM. Only 2 more months of calendar winter. Then another month of winter in spring.

 

[Lyman]

As of 8.30 this morning it is only -11 with a wind chill of -30. I am waiting until 12.00 to go out today. By saturday it will be in the single numbers and in the twentys by next week.

 

[Desk Jockey]

-11 in Ann Arbor this AM. Only 2 more months of calendar winter. Then another month of winter in spring.

W-i-n-t-e-r in Spring? Yikes, hopefully it's milder.

 

[Able 1]

Like Mark and Keith we work every day too!! It was -18 at my house at 5:30 this morning. By the time I got to work though, it was a balmy -5.

The solution lines aren't the thing that is a problem, the key to preventing them from freezing is to get the water running FAST!! Once it has warmed up, then you can relax a bit. The thing that will sometimes freeze up though is the vacuum line. That's the biggest problem we run into with the cold temperatures.

As for vac lines if they are freezing up either you are pulling them out of the house while the TM is still running(imagine the wind chill inside the hose) or you have some good leaks in your connections. If you stop your truckmount sucking warm inside air they won't freeze up unless the connections aren't good. Frozen vac lines suck, and I would bet the number 1 killer of them. I am still running the first inside vac line I have bought, and it's been 9 years now..

 

[jcooper]

Keith or anyone,
What if it's(ice) happening at the machine? Do you think the flash cuff could cause this? Would going back to a vinyl cuff help? Maybe it's smoother inside...

View attachment 3704

 

[Mark Saiger]

Keith or anyone,
What if it's(ice) happening at the machine? Do you think the flash cuff could cause this? Would going back to a vinyl cuff help? Maybe it's smoother inside...

View attachment 3704

You are sucking in cold from the cuff or leak in the hose. Ashley McKandree using bike inner tubes cut up to wrap around his cuffs. I just sometimes put a quick piece of tape around if a problem.

From the pic, you have an air leak at the point,but also could be further up the line.

I have had to remove the filter out of the waste basket sometimes as well. Just plugs there in the cold as well from turbulence.

Mark

 

[Desk Jockey]

That's normal. It will happen even at the vacuum inlet.

Sometimes after we lose suction we have to chisel it out to get it back.

Dump valve will freeze too. Broken many an ear off trying to turn the valve to dump the waste water. Its worse if you run the dump through the floor, we found out the hard way and now only run the exhaust through the floor.

 

[Brian H]

As for vac lines if they are freezing up either you are pulling them out of the house while the TM is still running(imagine the wind chill inside the hose) or you have some good leaks in your connections. If you stop your truckmount sucking warm inside air they won't freeze up unless the connections aren't good. Frozen vac lines suck, and I would bet the number 1 killer of them. I am still running the first inside vac line I have bought, and it's been 9 years now..

The vac lines are not leaking air, they are freezing on longer runs to the house. Usually when we have more then 100 feet out laying on the ground.

When I say it's been a bit of a problem, it hasn't stopped us and has happened only on a couple of jobs out of the few hundred jobs we have done in cleaning below zero the past couple of weeks.

 

[Mikey P]

lordy, the shit you guys go through..


amazing.

 

[Desk Jockey]

It will blow out vacuum blower preheaters on PC units too. That super cold air hits the thin aluminum fins in the preheater it will freeze that water fast. She's as good as gone in minutes. If it happens we just take radiator stick hose and bypass the preheaters until Spring. No point in replacing them too soon, only for it to happen again. Not a real problem if the unit is warm to begin with but can be a pain if it's cold.

We will winterize the extraction trucks since it's doubtful they will be cleaning but the carpet trucks still need to be able to clean carpet. Fortunately we can use the Butlers for carpet cleaning and not worry about preheaters.

 

[hogjowl]

I am beginning to think this hell hole in August is still better than having to deal with the things you brave souls deal with.

 

[Desk Jockey]

It's just cold Marty, you adjust to it.

 

[hogjowl]

It's just cold Marty, you adjust to it.

Spoken by the professional inside the office bulletin board poster?

 

[Shane Deubell]

It just flat out sucks...

Under 30 degrees is annoying but once you start hitting single digits...